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New regulations have loosened restrictions on flying your drone near airports, but you still can’t legally fly one in the vast majority of Penticton.
Knocking the minimum distance from an airport from nine kilometres down to 5.5 still means drones must be out past Poplar Grove winery to fly in Penticton.
That’s not a huge burden for Scott Waterfield, chief operating officer of Osprey Aerial Intelligence, which uses drones for much of its work.
“So, we have to prove our due diligence to make sure we’re safe for the general public,” Waterfield said.
But not everybody has commercial exemptions.
“It’s pretty difficult to be a resident of Penticton and go down to your regular school field and fly your drone around,” Waterfield said. “I think there’s a lot of people out there that don’t know what the rules are.”
Related: Transport Canada eases drone regulations
There are spots specifically for flying drones, but you’ll have to drive.
“There’s one on Marron Valley Road, which is the Penticton PenMAC (Penticton Model Aviation Club) field, and then there’s another one in Summerland,” Waterfield said.
Want to start up your own commercial drone business? Not so fast.
“It’s a crazy amount of paperwork. It’s basically, I would describe it as starting up your own airline, the amount of paperwork you have to do,” Waterfield said, adding the laws surrounding drones aren’t so accessible for recreational drone pilots.
“If they could break it down a little more, then they could really make it easier on the recreational guys.”
That’s not to say you necessarily won’t see drones zipping around Penticton parks.
“You’ll be at the beach, hanging out or whatever, and then you’ll see someone launch a drone. For the most part, I’ve seen people be fairly responsible, and they’re just kind of putting around in an open field, not flying over people’s heads or in their faces,” Waterfield said.
“I think people around here are being fairly responsible, even though they’re technically breaking the rules.”
Fines for flying your drone where you’re not supposed to can reach up to $3,000, according to the Transport Canada website, which includes the full list of regulations.
Those flying drones under 250 grams in weight can skip many of those restrictions.
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